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Salon
Salon
Politics
Madeleine Beck

Graham rages at Biden's SCOTUS pick

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Lindsey Graham lashed out early Friday at the news that President Joe Biden selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his pick to be the next Supreme Court justice. 

"The radical Left has won President Biden over yet again," Graham said in a tweet. 

Graham's statement was made shortly before Biden's official announcement of his nomination of Jackson. 

RELATED: President Biden announces historic Supreme Court pick, Ketanji Brown Jackson

"Judge Jackson is one of our nation's brightest legal minds and has an unusual breadth of experience in our legal system, giving her the perspective to be an exceptional Justice," a White House statement read.

Graham has expressed support for the nomination of J. Michelle Childs, who was on the short list of potential nominees Biden was considering. Childs currently serves as a federal district judge in South Carolina.

Childs had bipartisan support, with GOP senators Graham and Tim Scott, as well as Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, being some of her advocates.

"She has wide support in our state. She's considered to be a fair-minded, highly-gifted jurist," Graham said during a CBS "Face the Nation" interview. "She's one of the most decent people I've ever met. I cannot say anything bad about Michelle Childs; She is an awesome person."

RELATED: With his Supreme Court pick, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden takes the culture war fight to Republicans

Advocates for Childs emphasized the importance of her public state school education, which would diversify the historically Ivy league alumni-filled bench. Jackson graduated from Harvard, attending the prestigious university for both undergraduate school and law school.  

However, Graham did not explicitly express opposition to Jackson, and was in fact one of three Republican senators who voted to confirm her in her current position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

If selected, Jackson will be the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court. During Biden's campaign for the presidency, he pledged to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. 

Earlier in her career, Jackson served as a public defender for two years. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to ever serve on the Supreme Court, and the first Supreme Court justice who has worked in criminal defense since Thurgood Marshall.

Jackson will step into the vacancy that will be left when Justice Stephen Breyer — who she once clerked for — retires after more than 27 years on the court. She will be expected to start Oct. 3, when the court's new term begins. 

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